Christmas becomes a tragedy...

I really need to do a quick update, but I don't wanna. I am sitting at work, thinking and realized that this Christmas was bitter sweet. It's something I knew, but the more I think about it, the less I focus on the "sweet" and the more I focus on the "bitter".
Kyle and I spent Christmas in Las Vegas. It was such a fun time. We got there on the 22nd and by the 24th, Christmas was definitely ruined. Take the time to read and I'll explain.
... My parents have a HUGE back patio, solid concrete. When we moved into that house in 2000, the patio was cracked but the previous owners said it has been like that for awhile so my dad figured it was nothing to worry about. The crack got so bad that it cracked a wall in the house, so it was time to get it fixed. My dad hired someone to fix it and it was being done during the week of Christmas. So we spent two days listening to a jack hammer and wanting to literally pull our hair out. But that is not the tragedy. We have a really old dog. He is our family dog and probably everyone's favorite. We got this dog when I was 8 and we all grew up with him (his name is Ricky). Ricky is dang old now... old old old. He is almost completely deaf and we think he is going blind as well. You know when old people get to that point where they are constantly confused, well that's Ricky. He literally will get himself into a corner (an actual corner, not like a situation) and can not figure out how to get out. In the month between Thanksgiving and Christmas he lost a LOT of weight. He looked completely different. Kyle was in the backyard for awhile and said him and my dad saw Ricky take a few stumbles. It has been really sad to watch. We are all super attached to him, especially my dad. So anyways, Ricky was fixed and never goes to the door when people come, we can leave the door open without worrying about him ever walking out. He is a good dog. All day on Wednesday, Ricky was outside with the workers, just walking around the backyard, just hanging out with "the boys". Then Thursday morning he was out there with him again and next thing we know, he is gone. He wandered away. As soon as we realized he was gone, we immediately went out looking for him. For one thing, he is old and we figured he couldn't get very far and for another, we want him back. Kyle, my mom and I walked around our neighborhood for a good hour or so. The sad thing is it is pointless to call out his name, he can't hear us. But my dad was out looking for probably 5 or 6 hours. It was really sad to watch. He would be gone for about an hour, come home so see if we had found him and then pack up and leave again. Once it started to get dark, my dad went to the animal shelters to see if anyone found him and turned him in, but no one had. I actually saw my dad tear up over it. It was sad and hard to see. I have a few theories...
1. Ricky is a shetland sheepdog (he looks like a miniature Lassie), and his breed comes directly from wolves. My first theory is that he knew he was getting old and was likely to die soon. Wild animals can often sense a nearing death and will leave their pack to die alone. Maybe Ricky knew he was dying and went to be alone.
2. He wandered out of the yard, and got turned around and had no idea where he was so he kept wandering. (this seems more practical at times) Although, in his condition... it doesn't seem likely he could get too far. My dad says he has a collar with a phone number on it.
Either way, I am so nervous about him. If he is still alive, he is probably starving and about to die anyways. It was the worst thing to deal with the day before Christmas... might as well have been a member of the family dying (which in a sense, it was). Unfortunately, Christmas 2009 will always be the year we lost Ricky. We are still praying that we get good news, but it's not looking very good. When Jay left he said "When I come home, I hope Ricky and Grandma are still here", he got to talk to Grandma on Christmas, but how do you tell him Ricky "wandered away" when he is already so far from home and super homesick. Makes for a sucky memory huh?!

Scary Test

Kyle and I went to see the doctor on Monday for our last "monthly" visit. We will now be seeing him every 2 weeks. Anyways, while we were there, I remembered something I thought was just due to being pregnant, but I wanted to double check. I mentioned to the dr that I was bruising a lot, and I'm not a peach, I don't bruise easily. The doctor didn't come across as being overly concerned but wrote out a lab sheet and told me to go over to the hospital right away and have some blood work done. Kyle didn't seem nervous at all, but I was. Cancer, diabetes and crohn's disease all run in my family. Even where that chick poked me bruised up, worse than ever before... and these aren't those little whimpy green bruises, they are full on black bruises. When we got home I called my mom to talk to her. It really concerned my parents because the truth is, the dr was most likely trying to rule out cancer, but was not going to come right out and say it. The less a patient is informed before anything is certain, the better. So I had been worried for a few days. I asked Kyle what of my stuff he wanted, you know, incase I didn't make it. And his response "I get all of your stuff"... good response. (He tends to think I am slightly over dramatic... nah!)
We got a call a few days ago from the dr that my results came back normal but I needed to keep a close eye on the bruises. I needed to pay more attention to when they come up and if they get more severe , stay longer, or I get an increased number... because we will go back and retest. It was a scary few days for me, but I'm happy everything turned out ok :) I will not be dying anytime soon.

Avance Family Pics

Wow, with all these posts, you would think we have a life! But these are the family pictures we did while in Panaca. Although I think the pictures are well taken, my face looks huge and I have a hard time even looking at it! Kyle looks good though!
I don't look too incredibly pregnant in any of these, although at the time I was almost 29 weeks.

Final note... we see the dr later today for our 30 week check up... only 10 more weeks. The next family pictures will hopefully have our little boy in them. And once Jay comes home in May, we can do new LaPratt family pictures with all the changes... Jay will be home, Ethan, Parker, and our little boy will all be there and Nate will not! Hooray!

Pat on my own back...

So I already blogged about Kyle being super smart in his classes, and I don't care about receiving the praise (except from Kyle) but with this semester ending, I feel the need to recap. I took a full load this semester, expecting it to be like any other semester. Oh boy was I wrong. This semester was busy busy busy and seriously kicked my trash (I feel way mormon saying that.. haha) There is one professor at SUU who I seriously used to dread taking classes from. He has been a defense attorney, a prosecutor and a judge... he knows his stuff and he doesn't let people "skid by". So how did I end up taking 2 classes from him? One of the classes was my senior seminar... talk about a waste of time! Seriously! He did a good job but the class focused on immigration, something that I care nothing about. My only real complaint about illegal aliens is that they don't speak English, well it was until my research paper at the end. Professor Admire grades you after each class based on participation. He wants people to speak up and to voice their opinions. What if I don't have one on the particular subject? And how many times do I really need to say "Yeah, but would we have that problem if they spoke the language?" Then we had to write our senior paper. Admire is tough... he doesn't grade lightly. He knows what he is looking for and doesn't settle for less. I turned in my proposal, which was "The cost of illegal immigration on public school systems" and come to find out there is ZERO information out there on that topic. So I changed it to "Illegal aliens receiving In State tuition at U.S. Universities". Oh did that ever change my opinion on immigration. Utah is one of 11 states that allows illegal aliens to receive the BENEFIT of in state tuition as long as they graduated from high school in the state of Utah. What a bunch of crap!!!!! How is it fair that I'm a citizen and paid $6500/semester and they have NO legal status and pay $2200/semester! Well either way, I pretty much aced the paper. It was only 10 pages when it was supposed to be 15-20, but I went in to talk to him about some things and he said not only is it well written but I have a good grip on the topic and extra wording is not needed. Awesome!
My criminal procedure class is the second class I took from Professor Admire. This has been my favorite class of all time! It is pretty much "who does what and why"... I LOVED it. Every day I was like a kid in a candy store, just soaking up useful information. But yet again, it was NOT an easy class. Admire doesn't teach in the "traditional" format... he expects you to read the assigned chapters before coming to class and come to class and know the material and be able to discuss it. we went over specific supreme court cases and how they have shaped and changed the laws into what we know now. I know all sorts of random details about the law now. Admire also doesn't test in a typical format... there is no true/false, multiple choice here. It was more like "here is the situation... so and so did this and the cops did this... argue from the defense attorney's side and the prosecutor's side" It was applying what you had learned and making it work it a "could be real life situation". I scored a 92 on the first test (most people scored in the mid 70's) and a 96 on the second test (highest grade in the class when no one else cleared 90) This class totally solidified what I want to do with my life. I apparently have the right way of thinking, and I like to argue (although most attorney's don't do that anyways). If I score well on the final I will finish thatclass with the highest grade in the class! It's a super hard class so I'm very excited to be able to say that!
I also took an Abnormal Psychology class, this class was definitely interesting. It was not at all what I expected. We visited a lot of places around town where the people who resided or worked there had certain diseases or mental illnesses. This was also my first psychology class since general ed classes, so it was a tough class for me. I scored very well in the class and finished with an A. He gave us a print out of all of our scores and he said I was missing an assignment that I know I turned in, so I went in to argue him about it. It was only worth 10 points and I already had an A, so the professor looked at me like I was stupid. But I worked hard for my grades, and I like them to be a good reflection of the work I did that semester.
Either way, I did better than expected this semester, we'll have to see how next semester plays out with the baby and everything, but it is my last semester and I will not just slough off... I have worked too hard and too many people have made too many sacrifices for that. I feel good after doing such a good job and I know it makes my parents and my husband super proud and for once, I'm proud of myself and what more do I need?

Busy Busy Bees

Kyle and I have been so busy and I am only finding time to do this because I am at work, it's 5 am and I'm totally slacking on doing my homework :) The semester is finally over! Thank goodness. This semester has been way stressful! Kyle passed his EMT class and is now certified! Way to go Kyle! I am so proud of him. He is a lot smarter than he gives himself credit for.
We are almost 29 weeks! What a long haul! I officially look pregnant and am just tired all the time. My body hurts and I complain a lot! I haven't taken a recent picture and probably won't until we see the dr on the 14th, but this is 26 1/2 weeks. I only took this picture because my sister was getting feisty about not having a recent picture of my chubby belly :)

My birthday was on the 23rd and it was way low key... Kyle worked all day and I did homework. He did spoil me in the morning, which was nice and then we did what we needed to do the rest of the day. He is taking me to see New Moon, but considering how much the first one sucked, no matter what anyone says, I'm just not excited about seeing this one.



For THanksgiving we went down to Vegas. I was so excited to not be cold for a few days and Vegas did not disappoint. It was absolutely beautiful! Kyle got to do a ride along on Friday with the Las Vegas Fire and Rescue. He has been talking about it ever since. I am so proud of what he is doing. My mom finished the blanket Kyle picked out for our little boy. I don't sew, and since it was fleece (which stretches every which way) it wasn't a good learning opportunity. And then the scissors that my mom has are only right handed, so I was unable to finish off the edges as well... oh the joys of being left handed! ON Saturday we got up early and drove out to Panaca to spend the day with Kyle's family. It was seriously cold there! We took some family pictures (I don't have any yet) and I wasn't feeling very good so I took a nap while Kyle did whatever it was he did. Then we drove home to Cedar. I had missed my own bed long enough! On Sunday, Jimmy and Briget blessed their little boy Parker, it was a good day.
I have been somewhat down lately, for no reason in particular. While we were in Vegas, my dad let us borrow one of his extra Christmas trees and Kyle and I put it up. It was a fun experience for me. I LOVE having it up. Makes me feel like I'm at home.
Kyle putting on the finishing touches
I love our nontraditional tree... although I'm sure Kyle is sick of hearing me yell "Christmas tree!"
It snowed a few weeks ago and since I am hoping this is our last winter here in Cedar, we drove up the canyon to get some pictures of just me and kyle in the snow. This is the only one I like, but I love it. I am so excited about spending my first Christmas with my husband!

Another one bites the dust...

Jay left me his shiny Macbook Pro to hold onto while he was on his mission. If you know anything about Macs, the Macbook Pro is pretty much amazing!







and there went a $2400 laptop... good thing he put the extended warranty on it huh?

Yep... I am this bored... sorry!

For all you married people out there! Tag your married friends that you want to know about! Do the copy/paste thing into your notes, and pass it along, especially to the one who sent it to you. It's fun!

1. Where did you meet your spouse for the first time?

In St George... I was actually friends with his friend and we were going to set him up with my room mate... but I liked him so I went for him instead

2. What is your spouse's full name:
Kyle Richard Avance

3. Do you have any house pets:

Yeah, we have a god named Dayzee although most days I want to punt her out the window!

4. Do you own a house or rent:

We live in a ghetto apartment, but until I'm finished with school, we don't even care

5. Do you live in the country or city:

We live in Cedar Shitty... I mean City... with a bunch of hillbilly hicks!

6. What is one of your favorite activities together:

that is inappropriate... but we LOVE prison break and going for drives...

7. Do you have a favorite vacation spot:

We love going home to Vegas... but since we are hoping to move there in a few months we will have to find another

8. When did you first kiss?

October 22, 2008... I kissed Kyle since I had been hinting towards it for so freaking long and he just wouldn't do it... I'm not patient enough to wait for that!

9. What church do you attend?

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints CCU 13th Ward

10. Where were you married?

Las Vegas, Nevada LDS Temple

11. What town is your current address at:

Cedar City

12. Do you work or stay at home:

Work... I can't imagine being a stay at home mom yet

13. Where did you go on your honeymoon:
Back to school... I was too paranoid about missing important classes

14.What was the funniest gift you gave when dating?

Hmmm... Krista had me give Kyle this creepy doll for Christmas...

15. Who asked who out?

I pretty much made Kyle ask me out... he wasn't sure if I had a thing for his friend or not, but I cleared that up, and FAST!

16. How old are each of you?
We are both 23


18. Did you go to the same school?

No, I went to Las Vegas High School and he went to Mojave High School... we both attend SUU now though

19. Are you from the same home town?
yeah... small world huh

20. Who is smarter?

It depends, I'm book smart, but Kyle is smart with fixing things and a better communicator and a better driver

21. Who is more sensitive?

I cry more often, but Kyle is more caring about other people's feelings... I'm just a b*tch

22.Where do you eat out most as a couple?
We don't eat out that often... but if we end up back in Vegas, it will most likely be BWW or Macayos

23. Where is the furthest you two have traveled together as a couple?

Mexico

24.Who has the craziest exes?

I win on that one! Hands down!

25. Who has the worse temper?

I do... I'm like a ticking timebomb

26. Who does the cooking?

Usually I do... I love kyle, but I don't always love to eat what he cooks. I love that he is willing to try though

27. Who is more social?

I am

28. Who is the neat-freak?

I am about the kitchen and kyle is about pretty much everything else. And I will let him clean anytime he wants

29. Who is more stubborn?

Me! Kyle is so laid back and chill...

30. Who hogs the bed?

I do, Kyle is always complaining that he only has 6 inches of bed to sleep on, but if it was that big of an issue, he would find his way to the couch

31. Who wakes up earlier?

depends on the day

32. Where was your first date?

Texas Road House in St George was our first official date date, but we had been hanging out for over a month (see, it took him long enough)

33. Who had more boyfriends/girlfriends?
I did... Kyle worked too much to have a social life

34. Do you get flowers often?
enough. I think they are a nice guesture but also can be a waste of money

35. How do you spend the holidays?

we spent it with both of our families since they both live in Vegas

36. How long did it take to get serious?

about 2 months... I'm not gonna lie, I was sorta in a relationship when I met Kyle and was kinda seeing another guy as well

37. Who eats more
Kyle does... I am disgusted sometimes by how much he eats

38. Who does the laundry?
Kyle. I didn't even learn how to do laundry until I moved out when I was 22 and I don't really care for it

39. Who’s better with the computer?

Kyle... I just get frustrated and start swearing

40. Leave room for advice for other couples.
Communication is the most important thing ever... without it, you don't have a marriage, you have a room mate... and always remember that you love each other, it makes the hard times way more bearable!

Tags

Mel did this tag forever ago, and it was on facebook... but I'm working an 11 hour grave and I am BORED! So I will do mine on here :)

25 Random Things About Me

1. I have a weird, probably unhealthy obsession with my little brother... not like "hey I live in Kentucky where marrying family is legal" obsession, but still...
2. I am so sick of living in Cedar City... I don't like it! The only good thing about Cedar is finishing school and that I met Kyle
3. I had/have dreams of going to law school... people think it's crazy I want to be a lawyer, but the more law classes I take, the better I get at it and the more I want to do it!
4. When I was little I though pirates lived in the toilet
5. If your second toe is longer than your first, it is NOT normal and your feet are ugly... period!
6. My parents thought I was going to be a boy, and my name would have been Jay... but I was a girl... and my name was supposed to be Jamie...
7. I have been diagnosed with MDD (major depressive disorder) and anxiety... both are pretty much under control, but I will have my occassional "episodes"
8. I'm the third of 4 children and I am definitely a middle child
9. I hate a dirty kitchen! But I hate cleaning the bathroom
10. I am a huge fan of punctuality... I think being late is rude and inconciderate... and distracting
11. I get compliments on my teeth a lot, but I actually have really bad teeth... most of my enamel is worn away and I had to get a bridge when I was only 21
12. I eat penaut butter and jelly toast almost daily... almost always for breakfast and usually as a snack
13. I had a hard time adjusting to being married... Kyle seemed to ease right into it and I struggled...
14. I still LOVE Britney Spears... and I don't care if she was bald and beating cars with an umbrella... if I was that hott, I would do it too
15. I would rather have my eyeballs melt out of my head than be cold
16. I started wearing glasses in the 6th grade and my eyes are a different (worse) perscription everytime I have them checked.
17. I worked for an opthalmologist office for 2 years and was in charge of all the Lasik patients and their paperwork, yet I am petrified to do it myself
18. I want a '67 Mustang one day, and Kyle has pormised me he will get me one.
19. I LOVE those reality dating shows! Especailly the ones on VH1... they crack me up!
20. I have been engaged twice but only married once (thank goodness I picked the best of the best)
21. Every couple of years my birthday falls on Thanksgiving... I dread those years!
22. My brain thinks numerically! I can sit and crunch numbers all day without even knowing I'm doing it
23. I am always on some crazy "made up" diet... I have an obsession with my weight (partly due to my brain being so numerical)
24. I really had no plans on being a mom... never cared that much, but I am so excited for our little boy
25. I LOVE myspace surveys... It's so stupid but I will postpone doing other, more productive things to fill out a survey... it really is pathetic!

Wow... that wasn't hard at all. I could have kept going, but no one would read 1,000 Random things about me :)

Introducing our little boy...

I saw this on a friend's blog and was laughing so hard I had to do it myself! So this is our little boy (except he totally looks like a chick! haha)



What do you think about my little new baby Baby Boy Avance?
MakeMeBabies.com - What will your baby look like?

19 weeks...

Ok... I'm not 19 weeks pregnant... I'm either 22 or 23 (i'm the WORST pregnant person ever... I never remember) and to be honest, I'm not sure this picture is of 19 weeks, it may be 20 :) I do have a lot to update, but I don't have time. Anyways... this is the most recent belly picture I have. I have grown since then, so I will update more when I can.

A good friend

This is my little brother's best friend, Jared. I have known Jared forever... but we became really good friends a few years ago. I find myself sitting around sometimes just missing my little brother so much. Jared knows how much I love Jay and how close we are so those are the days he will sit and talk to me for hours. Jared always has my back and he is such an amazing person (and flippin' tall!)

Oops...

I forgot to mention that our little baby is a boy! He is super cute and we are so excited to meet him. We have already picked out a name and I just love love love him. I love feeling him move and I love when I get to experience all the fun pregnant mommy things! We are so excited for baby BOY Avance!

Baby Avance

Today was amazing. We finally got to "meet" our little baby. We are stoked! It has been a long time coming. I have really been struggling with being pregnant... I'm not good at gaining weight and it has made me seriously bitchy! BUT today was awesome! We got to see little baby's face and feet and hands. I am proud to say "All 10 fingers and all 10 toes!" It is very exciting for us. We have a name picked out. We are ready for the baby!! I love this baby... more than anything... well maybe not Kyle :) It really does put everything in perspective. We are excited really meet our new addition!

This is the baby's face. It is yawning.

And all 5 toes!

I'll post more pictures later. We are stoked!

Why I love Jay so much...

Jay has to have surgery... and this was the email Kyle and I got from him today. If you don't know him, this email makes it pretty apparent why I love him so much and why his spirit and energy is basically contagious. I'm not turning my blog into "What is Elder LaPratt doing on his mission" but this was so touching for me... happy reading!
Hey Sis,So I get to have surgery on Monday, its gonna be at like 6:30 in the morning. The doctor says I need to take it way easy for a week. And then I cant lift anything over 20 pounds for 4 weeks. So basically I get to chill on members couches for like a week it will way crazy and way boring but he sad he can only go in once to do the orthoscopic way after that he will have to cut me open clean, so Im gonna do everything he says. The surgery sounds pretty intense, and Im not allowed to be awake for it, dang. But hes doing it for free and my stake president owns a surgery center, so I think the church, just has to pay for the anesthesiologist. (SP) major. But yeah Im pretty nervous I dont like going under but just in case I go under and never wake back up I want you to know two things, one I love you guys hardcore and Ill see you in the spirit world. I like to think about Dane Cooks joke, where hes like your family will be up there and will be like "Youre dead sucker, nah float over here and give me a hug." And 2nd, I want me tombston to say "As youre walking away, your foot steps get louder." so yeah in the slight case I do die, dont let mom and dad write anything gay on my stone, like beloved son, or he went too early. I was thinking "I wanted to know why life was so hard...So I decided to go ask God." I thought that would be a way good one. But thats not gonna happen...But just in case. Well thats about all I got I probably wont write next week cause Ill be stoned out of my mind but we will just see I guess.

Update... but no pictures...

Kyle is supposed to get on here... but he is SO busy. I actually feel really bad for him at times. He is working 2 jobs (which I will never complain about, because it is really helping us out) and he has his EMT class which takes up a huge amount of time. He gets really awesome grades in that class, proves what a smarty pants I married! I love how dedicated he is to our family.
BUT some new stuff has been going on, so I'm not waiting for him, he will get around to it when he can :) Kyle's brother and his wife had a little boy yesterday... we now have two nephews named Parker. It apparently is a popular name this year! I don't even know if Kyle has gone to meet him yet... I haven't done anything but school work today. And I spend so little time with Kyle now (due to work and school) I haven't talked to him yet. We only have time to talk about the basics and that is all! It's only one semester though, we will get through. Congrats to Jimmy and Brigett and little Cortney.
We saw our dr last week and he is super excited for us. Our baby is doing really well. I had an emotional breakdown the day before the appointment. I haven't been sick in a little over 2 weeks, I throw up on a random ocassion, but nothing like before (thank goodness) and I haven't gained any weight this month. I was thoroughly convinced that we had lost the baby. My eating habits have been really good lately, but I just had a really bad feeling. Kyle came home from class to me in tears because I was so depressed. He just picked me up and let me cry in his arms for about 30 minutes and then he gave me a blessing. What an amazing husband I have! I am so grateful for the power that he holds. I felt calm and we got to listen to the heartbeat the next day. The dr said it is perfect. Nothing to be worried about. We set a date for the ultra sound and will be finding out the sex on September 30. I can't believe it is coming up so soon. When we first found out we were pregnant, Kyle only wanted a boy and now he is leaning for a girl... such a flip flopper if you ask me! We just want a healthy baby. And Kyle's sister is also pregnant. We found out a few weeks ago... she is due at the end of March! Exciting! Congrats to Jill and Rob!
I met with my academic advisor today. She informed me that I am perfectly on track to graduate in May (finally) and... I am on the dean's list. It's really not that big of a deal, but I was so excited! All my hard work is finally paying off! Kyle and I can't wait for me to graduate so we can move! We want to move out of Cedar... fast! Big city... here we come... in 8 months!!!
And our camera broke! I'm not sure what even happened! That piece of junk! It was actually a really nice camera and I took decent care of it. I think I left it out in the car a few too many times and it did get bounced around alot... why are they not more durable. I can't post any new pictures until we get a new one... but we will be getting a new one soon. We have to! With the baby coming and all!
My mom and dad took Kyle and me up to Salt Lake for a day last weekend. Mom and I went to a scrapbooking convention (which was a blast) and kyle and my dad went and looked at 4 wheelers and motorcycles. Kyle was eyeballing some of the motorcycles, which I am perfectly ok with once we get enough money. I love street bikes! Anyways, my mom and I were keeping a look out for cute baby things at this convention. And we found some! Unfortunately, we don't know the sex of the baby yet, so I was hesitant to buy anything... but my mom is so cute... her response "Buy one of each" so we did :) It was a great day with my parents.
I think that is all for now... I can't remember anything else. I will post some pictures once I get a working camera!

How is all began... by Shannon

I have been sitting at work all night and I realized it is already September! Holy Crap! Kyle and I met almost a year ago... and what an amazing year! So I was thinking about that and about the first time we met and I thought "No one even knows how we met... I think I'll write it down so when my kiddies read this after they put me in a home for the mentally insane... they will know at least once in my life that I was normal" :) So here it goes...
I was starting my junior year at SUU... living in small town Cedar City (or Cedar Shitty as I call it) and I moved into an apartment where I didn't know any of my roommates and there is always that awkward week, you know... when no one wants to come out of their room for fear of small talk? So anyways... I had been dating a guy down in Vegas all summer who was also attending SUU. He was about 7 years older than me (this whole story is actually rather interesting... maybe I'll blog about that one day) So anyways, we were still dating when school started but I always knew there was something about him that was off. Anyways, I had a friend who lived in St George, his name was Mike. I always considered Mike a friend, I don't know if he ever expected more or not, and it's irrelevant, but he invited me to go 4 wheeling with his family over albor day weekend. This "boyfriend" of mine had left for the weekend and it's not like I was out there socializing with my roommates so I went. It was actually a lot of fun. I met most of his family (which becomes interesting later) and had a good time.
So the next week, I probably hung out with "boyfriend" maybe once and Mike called me on Saturday and asked what I was doing. I wasn't doing anything, it was Saturday and I was not interested in doing homework on a Saturday night unless it was a last resort. But my roommate that I shared a bathroom with had found out that she didn't make the softball team and was super bummed out about it. If I went down to St George to hang out with Mike, she was going to be all alone... so he suggested that we double date (I thought of it as more of a hanging out than a date... I'm a pretty loyal girlfriend, at least at that point). He said he had a friend and we could all do something together. It seriously took forever for me to talk my roommate into going. And even longer to pick out something for her to wear. So we drive down to St George and meet at Mike's house. Mike was outside waiting to make sure I didn't get lost but this "mystery friend" was still in the house... but there was a really nice truck outside that I knew didn't belong to Mike. So we walk in the house and there is a really cute guy sitting on the floor... now at this point, I had met most of Mike's family, and this guy didn't look like them, so this was the "mystery friend" After saying hi to Mike's parents, this guy got up and came over and introduced himself... the second thing I remember about him, after him being really cute was he had the deepest voice and the darkest weird tan! So we decided where we would go and all packed into Kyle's truck and off we went. I'm not a big fan of awkward dead silence, and although I thought he was really cute, I was still dating "boyfriend" so what did I care if I made myself look like an idiot by creating conversation. So there I sat, asking Kyle and my roommate questions to make sure they would actually speak... they are both pretty shy people!
We get to Dave's Famous BBQ and are seated and I keep up with the small talk... realizing more and more that I really like Kyle. I found out how many brothers and sisters he has (and that he is a twin... the third twin I have dated... I have a thing for half of a set I guess) and what he liked to do for fun and what he did for work. I made a total fool out of myself at the restuarant, but who cares, it gave all of us something to laugh about and who cares if we were laughing at me!
After dinner we decided to go see a movie. On the way to the theater Kyle let me play with his "newer than mine" ipod... and I noticed he had Dane Cook on there. I immediately thought we should listen to it and Kyle and I quoted most of it without even turning it on. Well my roommate had never heard it, so Mike and I left to go get tickets and to let Kyle and my roommate get a little alone time. So we all finally get into the movie and I was sitting on the far side, then Mike was next to me and my roommate was next to Mike and then Kyle was on the end... I was so irritated. I wanted to sit by Kyle!!! But he was not my "date" and I wasn't trying to steal his attention (ok that's a total lie... I was but it would have been rude to make it obvious!) All through the movie I would find little reasons to peak over in their direction to see if they were holding hands or if he had his arm around her or anything... and luckily for me... they never were! The movie ended and we decided it was getting late and we still had to drive back to Cedar, so the guys took us back to our car and we left. I texted Mike on the way home and asked him what Kyle thought... his answers were so lame I figured that's just how guys talked, so I cleverly decided I should get Kyle's number and I would talk to him myself about it (or so everyone thought that's what I would be doing). So that was the first night that we met... the story only gets better from here... the next day is a good story too! But Kyle promised me he would write up his side so we can see who exaggerates more :) So I'll finish after Kyle has...

To be continued...

What got me through the day...

I know I already posted today... sorry to bore you with more... but I have been having a rough week (and it is only Monday).  My "pregnancy emotions" are everywhere... some things that I'm feeling are super legit and others are not, but either way, it has been a struggle.  

I spent all last night crying until about 3 am then got up today around 8 and cried until about noon.  I feel it's all for a legit reason though... I missed class today, which irritated me because it was my own fault, so I went and got online and checked my email.  I always get my emails from Jay on Mondays, so I always have that to look forward to.  It has been such a trying week, and his letters always make me smile because I am so proud of him.  He wrote something to me that I don't know if he will ever get to know how much I needed it today... it made my whole day.  So I thought I would share, and not for the purpose of bragging, but so I can look back and always remember how He really does know me, and must have known I would need this.  I won't share the whole letter, but he was telling a less-active member about his family and about me and kyle.  How my plans for my life are law school and I am still pretty much a newlywed and I'm pregnant and finishing school and she said (the next bit will be directly from his letter)

"I respect your sister so much for taking all that on at once." I was like you dont even know how legit and stubborn my sister is:) She doesnt give up. It was way sweet. Us LaPratts we are way stubborn thats what i have found on my mission. Most people are so passive but all of us are way fiery:) I love it. 

Today was one of those days for me... I considered giving up... it would have been easier to just say "No school while I'm pregnant.  I'll just work"  or even "I don't want to be mom... I never have wanted that, I wanted a career and this is messing with my plans" and just lived on that depression.  So although he may never see this... thank you Jay for being one of the best men I'll ever know.  Thank you for knowing me and believing all of that in me.  It is definitely what I needed to hear.  And I needed to hear it from someone besides my husband :)  I can't wait for Jay to come home and get married... he is going to be awesome.  He is the only person who constantly reminds me how excited he is for "little baby", which is what I need to hear since it wasn't my first plan in life.  I love you Jay! 

First Day of School...

So my embarrassing story for the first day of school... I messed up the times and missed class!!  So embarrassing!  What a flaky retard I am today!

Happy Birthday Mom!

So today is my mom's birthday, and my uncle Kesley's too :) So I thought I would spend a few minutes and list some of the things I love and admire most about my mom...
1. She has always put her children first. She didn't work outside of our home until all of us were grown up. She was always there to help with homework or to come to our rehearsals or performances. She was supportive of everything that we did. She withdrew from a semester of school after Jay's accident so she could stay home with her "grown up son" and reteach him to walk and how to function on his own. She would not let him give up.
2. She understood that all of us are different and treated us as so. Growing up, I was always the most needy, but she never favored any of us, just knew what we needed.
3. She faithfully attended the temple on a regular basis. I never realized how important this was to our family until I went through myself. I admire my mother for this sacrifice and obedience.
4. She always stood up for what she believed in. She does not let other people walk all over her. She is a strong woman and taught me and my sister that it is ok to be a strong woman and still be a mother and a wife. There is room for it all.
5. My education has become a priority in her life. She has refused to let me "take a break from school" again. She knows how important education is and has made many sacrifices to make sure I finish and I finish well. Along with my dad, she has spent thousands of dollars in the past year and a half to make sure I am where I need to be and able to finish my education. Money has not been an issue in this quest for them.
6. My mother has taught us kids that it is ok for us kids to not succeed as number one, but quitting is never an option. I have never seen my mom quit when times got hard. She has stuck through everything that she has started. Because of her example, none of her children are quitters, we're strong headed and we're fighters.
7. My mother taught me how important it is to save money. She has recently been able to show me that it is ok to splurge on occasion, but savings is also important. It is because of her example that Kyle and I have any money in the bank at this time.
8. She doesn't dwell on materialistic things. Yeah, she lives in a nice home and drives a nice car, but that is not her focus in life... for her, it's not about "competing with the Jones'" She has those things because her and my dad work hard and after all these years, she deserves them. She doesn't have to show off the biggest and the best, and because of her, I also don't dwell on materialistic things.
9. My mom taught us to work hard. Since I have joined the "real working world" I am amazed at how many people have little or no work ethic at all. My mom taught us from a super young age that it is important to be dependable and to be honest. Stealing time is stealing, period.
10. My mom is my best friend. Ever since I was in high school, I have looked to my mom for advice and to be a friend. She gave up many hours to accompany me to dr's appointments, walk in the blazing sun when I needed to get out of the house and to this day, talk to me almost daily on the phone. She is the kind of mom I want to be.


These are only a few of the things I most admire about my mom... I could list for days, but who wants to read that??



So to an amazing mom and now an amaing Grandma... Happy Birthday Mom! I love you! Make 2-9 a great year :)

Changes

So I have been really bummed lately... it has been a rough summer with a lot of changes for me and kyle... Kyle let me go and get my hair done today and look how I came home! I absolutely love it. It is so much different than everything I have ever done before. It's fun and Kyle loves it.

Doesn't help that I'm not wearing any make up... or my contacts... or that I have already slept on it... but you get the idea...

Just lost...

So I never blog this much... but I have more free time on my hands now and I'm bored.  Our dr appointment got moved to Monday, so there will be no info about that until then.  I have been thinking a lot lately... lots of free time equals lots of thinking...

1.  I graduate in May, it's still a long ways away, but I'm on my final haul, and I'm excited about that.  I am excited to go out into the world with a degree in something that is actually interesting and that I can use to help people, which is ultimately what I want to do.

2.  Kyle and I have been researching law schools a lot lately!  Unfortunately not too many of them are near home.  UNLV would be a great choice for me... it is close to home and has an amazing reputation.  However, is it where I want to be forever?  I lived in Vegas my whole life and never actually did any personal growning until I left.  It would be great to be around our families, especially with the crazy schedule and mass amounts of studying I will be required to do, but is it worth going home and risking never leaving Vegas again?  I guess we will just see when I start applying.  I'm really interested in a few schools, no where near Vegas, but who knows.  I am not super involved in "extra curricular" activities in school.  Nothing really grabs my attention, and unfortunately I like to work, so that will definitely hurt me.

3.  With school ending and deciding whether or not I want to pursue my education further into law school, and a few other things that were going on... I sorta put the whole "baby" thing on hold.  Yeah, we're pregnant, but I refused to let myself get excited.  It was so overwhelming and I was super stressed.  I finally decided that it is ok for me to be excited, and I am.  I am really excited!  I can't wait for little baby to come!  

This is not a super exciting thing to blog about, but I'm in a mood today.  It's not a good mood and it's not a bad mood... it's just a mood.  I really need to get out of it!!

Oops...

Oh man... Krista took of her hat for this... I loved the hat!

That's her hat!  The bright pink one... I loved it!

I had some other pictures that somehow didn't make it onto my computer... but I didn't want to not post them :)  So here they are!  Sorry Krista... I knew I got a picture of you... 

Fun Times

It's been awhile since I have posted and since I am starting to feel better on a regular basis, I figured this is a great way to remind myself years from now what we have been up to.  Kyle and I went to the Bulloch reunion a few weeks ago out in Panaca.  There were so many people.  It was like an Andersen reunion, except everyone stayed in the same house and shared 2 bathrooms.  It was quite an adventure.  We took a few pictures... 

Getting ready to leave Cedar... that's our new car that I mentioned but never posted pictures of.

Panaca is great for 4 wheeling

Jill didn't get there until Friday night, so I attempted to take pictures for her until she got there, but got preoccupied and busy, sorry Jill, but here is one of Rob putting gas in the 4 wheeler, sorry he is not looking and completely oblivious that I'm even taking a picture.

Kurt and Quinton waiting to put gas in their "rides"

Our self portrait while on our ride... we totally match that day, which was NOT planned, but really funny!

At the softball game, Kyle hit a home-run on his first time up to bat... that's my man!

Our "family portrait" before coming home...

Getting ready to leave... this is how I helped to load the car...

After coming home from Panaca, Kyle and I each worked for a day and then left for Salt Lake.  My old roommate was getting married and Jake and Mel live up there, so we went up for a visit.  I was completely slacking with my camera while we were there but it was SO much fun!  It was fun to get to hang out with them and their kids.  We went to Seven Peaks one day and had so much fun.  I felt so bad because about 2 1/2 hours after we were there, we wanted to just relax in the wavepool... who would have known that I wouldn't be able to handle the up and down motion.  The day of the wedding, we got up super early and started running errands.  We walked around the Gateway mall, Kyle bouht me a new outfit, which I LOVE!  Ate lots of junk food and had a great day with Mel.  We even got to stop at the Salt Lake Temple.  We came home and I thought I had time for a nap... it's been awhile since I could go all day with no nap, and didn't wake up until past 7.  The wedding was from 6-8 and it was still an hour north of where we were!  Sorry Katie... but congratulations.  The next day we came home.  Poor Kyle!  He barely got any sleep, and aside from me throwing up the first hour of the ride, I know it was a long drive for him.  He is so great to me while I'm pregnant.  I love him for it!  

So it has been a fun few weeks with the "Avance" family!  Unfortunately, we don't know when we will be able to get back down to Vegas, which sucks, but we have been having fun with our family up here!  We have had a great couple of weeks.  My next dr appointment is on Wednesday, so we'll post exactly what is going on.  I have the first ultra sound, I will get it posted around Wednesday, and since I am starting to show... we'll post some more pictures!  So until then...

Recently

It has been quite the past few weeks for me and Kyle.  I have been super tired all of the time and I wasn't feeling good.  One night while both me and Kyle were getting ready to work a grave shift, I thought, what harm would it be if I just tested to make sure I wasn't pregnant, just to ease our minds.  Well sure enough that damn test came out positive.  I became instantly freaked out and Kyle was instantly excited!  Then I got the best idea ever... test more, incase the first one was wrong... considering that all 5 stated that we were infact pregnant, we stopped testing and set up an appointment with the dr.  We saw the dr on Monday July 6 and I am infact 7 weeks pregnant.  How did this even happen to me?  I spent the past 11 years of my life purposely harming my body, and having dr's tell me I will never be able to have kids and i'll be lucky if I'm alive in a few short years, and here I am and pregnant.  Doesn't really reassure my faith in the practice of medicine or the competence of a few of the dr's I have seen in the past.  I am sure they were jst trying to scare me!  Those bastards!  I was completely wreckless and not the least bit careful about getting pregnant because I believed them... my bad!  The thing I'm the most afraid of is that because I am so hooked on my weight and staying the same size, and I know every trick in the book to make sure I stay the size I am comfortable with, that I will resort back to those habits when the weight starts coming on.  So far, I have been really good, but throwing up has been "involuntary" for the past few weeks.  I don't even have to try or want to... yeah it sucks being queezy all the time though!  But we are officially pregnant.  Our dr let us hear "little baby's" heart beat, which was really cool.  There is only one in there.... thank goodness... considering both Kyle and my mom are twins!  But we are only having one.  We have picked out boy names we like and girl names that we like.  We are excited now.  We have already purchased the crib (we got an AWESOME deal on the crib) and I absolutely fell in love with a diaper bag yesterday, so Kyle let me get it!  It is so adorable!  That is our big news of the past few weeks.  Our families are super excited, I think!  

I quit one of my jobs... Kyle said we didn't need the extra money and it was making me so mean.  I wasn't sleeping enough, and being pregnant makes me so tired as it is.  I am still working at Horizon House, which is a drug rehab house, and I love that job.  It is really chill which makes it easy for me!  I don't work 40 hours a week, but I usually get pretty close, and kyle is working 40 hours, so we are doing just fine.

  We went out to Panaca the other day, just to get away.  It was so relaxing.  Just me and kyle and we had such a good time!  We just laid around all day in our pajamas!  Couldn't ask for anything better!  We wanted to go up to the cabin, but the roads are bumpy and twisty and I get really bad motion sickness right now and we didn't want to risk it!  So we decided Pananca would be a fun alternative.

Yesterday, Kyle and I went down to St George to do a little shopping.  I have been eating more than normal, I'm hungry all of the time and I have put on a few pounds and it has been bothering me.  So Kyle let me do some shopping.  It was such a fun day.  We did a lot of shopping, got a lot of good stuff and we used some gift cards we had from our wedding to Red Lobster!  I LOVE Red Lobster... they have the best shrimp!  And we treated ourselves to dessert as well.  I will totally recommend their cheesecake to anyone who enjoys cheesecake!  It was absolutely delicious!  Kyle is still talking about it!  After dinner, we went over to see Jill.  Everytime we go down to St George, we see Robbie, but Jill is never home.  It was a lot of fun to see her.  I think we sat around and talked for about 2 1/2 hours... it was a good time.  

We don't have a lot of pictures from lately... I feel like I have ballooned and refuse to really take any... but we have a few, so I will post them :)

While I'm at work...

It has been a really busy month for Kyle and I... constantly on the go! We are both working as much as possible, and trying to just save up most of the money. It causes us both to be really stressed which is NEVER good... the only time we really get to see each other is to sleep... usually that's not at night, and it's only for a few hours. Poor little dayzee has had one thing wrong with her after another... the left side of her face swelled up like a balloon and she would just scratch it raw... when kyle and i finally got all of the infection out, a little sticker was stuck in her face... and to think I was just about to take her to the vet and pay probably $300 for the vet to look at her, give her an antibiotic and tell me to wait until it worked its own way out. And now she is sick again... i have a pretty good idea of what is causing all of this, or at least aiding to it, but i'm just gonna keep my mouth shut for awhile. I find that the only time to update this is during a grave shift when I'm too tired to even think anyways. Kyle sold his truck... finally! We got a car that is saving us almost half in just the payment and so much on gas! We'll get another truck someday, but in the meantime, we both realize there are more important things in life than having a big truck. We're going down to Vegas this weekend for Parker's blessing... it's very exciting for us... we can't wait to see our families... it's been a long time. Other than that... we are so busy there really is nothing to report... i'll try to post some weekend pictures next week on a grave...

What should I even do with this...

I'm really not that into blogging... I'm not super social and I don't feel like people care about my boring life to come on here and read this, wait, I know for sure Mel does... but for now, I will consider her the exception, not the rule.  Besides the fact that I'm working 7 days a week... sometimes with only 8 hours in between a shift and nothing really to show for it, except my huge school bill (that I am planning on paying all by myself without the help of my dad, hopefully).  I never update this thing, I honestly have no time, except for when I'm sitting on a grave shift, trying to stay awake and with honestly nothing better to do.  The free time I do have I try to spend with Kyle, who I'm sure is sick of me never being home and running around frantically trying to take care of him when I am.  I don't even know if I want to keep this... I feel stressed to keep it updated but at the same time, stressed with how little time I have to do it.  I can't even post any fun "Check out what we did this weekend" updates, because our weekends consist of sleeping in because we both get off around midnight and need to unwind, causing us to fall asleep around 2 or 3 and waking up in enough time to get ready for work.  I love kyle's response when I apologize for not having any time "It's how it has to be right now, it will get better"... but I know it won't for awhile.  I'm trying to set up a meeting time to meet with a professor from school who will help me study for the LSAT.  I want to take the test in October, but I'm already a few months behind.  I should have started in January... but I didn't, and now it is almost June.  I can catch up though.  But I'm also considering finishing my degree completely, and then applying to law school.  So that means I would apply in 2010, not 2009.  It's all up in the air, but it is something I'm looking into.  Kyle and I did get to go home for Mother's day weekend.  My little brother is on a mission and got to call home, so I was super excited to talk to him!  He got to talk to Kyle as well, which was so special for me because Jay didn't get to come to the wedding and he was probably the person I wanted there the most.  We went 4 wheeling with my dad in Mt Charleston that weekend as well.  My dad absolutely loves those toys and loves to take them out any chance he gets.  And dad LOVES Kyle because they share a lot of the same interests, so it's like a "friend" for my dad.  We don't even know when we will get to leave Cedar again, considering my work schedule, but as soon as we figure it out, I will be the first one in the car!  So to make a long story short... this may be my last blog... I will probably cancel this and start new when I have time and a better life :)

What a mess... the most honest and real i'll ever be...

I'm not sure how into this whole blogging thing I am... I don't know who really checks this and to be honest, I don't care... but I need an outlet.  I have spent almost everyday on the phone with my mom (she is the most amazing mom ever) crying.  And yet, I have nothing to cry about... here is the situation...  

I was taking a medication on a trial basis... The dr said this one would be good for me, and although I am always somewhat skeptical of dr's, we went over all of my issues and this seemed to be the best option.  I took it for a little over 5 weeks and the whole time just felt completely yucky... I don't even know how to describe the yucky feeling, I just didn't feel right... I had a constant feeling that I needed to stop taking this medication, so I did.  And now everything is awful.  We think the medication messed with everything... I spent all of last summer getting help for my addictions, which we all thought I had overcome... but I find myself constantly turning back to the "simple solution".  It's back, and not as bad as it used to be but needless to say, I'm back to my old habits.  I'm irritable and moody all of the time... I snap at the smallest things.  I find myself wanting to be alone more often than not and I'm constantly unhappy with everything.  So I call my mom everyday to tell her how no one (especially Kyle) has done anything wrong, but I constantly find reasons to be mad... if Kyle is completely perfect, I'm mad that he is so perfect and I'm such a b*tch.  Anyone who has been around me the past 2 or 3 weeks has definitely noticed a difference.  I'm not me...

So 2 days ago, my mom decided this needed to stop.  She and my dad have offered to pay any medical bills I may acquire while getting treatment, but the ultimate decision is that something needs to be done.  But the decision is mine.  I am currently working 2 jobs and don't know if I can afford the time off of work to drive to and from Vegas every month... and this past summer was hard... I'm not saying I'm not up for a challenge, but I watched what I did to my family and still look back broken hearted that I could ever do that, to anyone.  But the reality is, I'm not well... I am sick and I need help... but admitting it is hard and going through with it is even harder.  We are currently looking for a good dr is st george, but I still don't like the idea of going alone... what a mess.  This is one of those things I just want to be over with... 

Ghetto Style

Talk about ghetto... but when I called my dad... apparently no one in the household knows how to email a picture (that may be something that we will all be learning over Mother's Day weekend) so I went on facebook and Alan had posted some picture... So considering I did grow up in the ghetto... I took them off facebook, and now I pretend like they are mine :) So this is Parker... I don't believe he has a middle name yet... but I haven't talked to anyone about that! I am so excited!!!!


Parker is on Sheena's lap and Alan is holding my little buddy Conley






This is baby Parker... I already love love LOVE him!!

Welcome Parker!

Alan and Sheena had their little baby boy this morning... Parker ????? LaPratt. I know he was 7 lbs 5 oz (I dont know how to write that in baby sizing) but since Kyle and I won't get to go down until Mother's Day, that's all I know. I know he is very healthy... all 10 fingers and all 10 toes! Hooray for Alan and Sheena! And welcome home Parker!

What a Sh*tty week!!!!

What a crazy week!!! and I need an outlet, so here I go... Monday sstarted off with kyle having to work... we didn't have school and him working in the morning meant I got to sleep in, with NO distractions. He called me a little after noon and told me that the mentally handicapped girl that he watches attacked him... he is stronger than her, but she did grab around his neck, dig her disgusting claws into his neck and pull. When get got home, I recleaned everything for him and he just wanted to relax. We finally decided to have his work pay for him to go have it looked it, just incase she didn't wash her hands and it was infected or something like that... so by the time we decided to do that, the place was closed. Kyle had a hard time sleeping that night... restraining her took most of his energy and his nexk was sore from where she grabbed and pulled. So we went to the Dr's the next day and they said he was not infected but to watch it, incase something came up. No biggie, I'm glad we checked.

The weather changed on us once again. It was so nice out earlier this week and then, towards the end... SNOW! I flippin' hate snow! I am sick... once again! My whole body hurts and all I want to do is sleep! It is awful! My throat is swollen and I was starting to warm up. I have been taking Advil and Tylenol to try to keep any fever away... everytime the weather starts to get good then randomly and quickly turns bad... I get sick!

And then yesterday happened. What a sh*tty day!! I was super excited because Grandpa Avance was helping me with an assignment I had in my Criminology class and I was finally going to have some time to work on it. Kyle was working at 3... and I had all day to make my assignment as perfect as I wanted (well, as it needed to be so I don't spaz)... and then I get the phone call right before 5... that little b*tch bit my husband! She went psycho and Kyle had to restrain her 4 times! That is ridiculous! She for some reason hates him (and he was so good to her) and takes out all of her anger and frustration on him! It makes me so angry! So I met him at an Urgent Care here and he had to get a new Tetnus (I have no idea how to spell that) shot... just incase. They drew blood and will bring him back next week if more work needs to be done. His arm was bothering him where he got the shot and we were at the Urgent Care for about 2 hours! I am begging Kyle to look for a new job... this is ridiculous and it makes me nervous everytime he goes to work! Homework had to be put on the backburner! We had a hard time getting to sleep... Kyle's arm was bothering him and I had so much to do! But everything turned out ok...

I made a really big decision. I'm not ready to tell the world, but Kyle knows and I told Sheena (my sister). I am praying that its the right decision for us, but I'm sure it is. Kyle is happy with it and that is really all that matters to me. We'll see how it goes. So for right now... that's been the week!

2 weeks...

Happy 2 week anniversary kyle!  We have been married for 2 weeks and it has been so fun!  It is fun having my best friend everywhere that I go... and it's fun introducing him as my husband!  I love it...  and I love not having to wait for Kyle to get there... he is already there with me!  

Other than that... our past few months have been so stressful so I'm glad that all of that is finally over.  I can get back to school (which is not doing too well this semester, which makes me really upset) and I can work my butt off for the last few weeks... then it's summer break.  Kyle and I have been thinking of some fun things to do this summer...but we haven't come up with anything for sure.  We definitely want to go camping (I know, Shannon doesn't camp, but I will) and maybe do some short weekend trips!  I'm glad we can finally relax and settle down!

Best Surprise

As lots of people know, my little brother, Jay, is serving a mission in Spokane, WA.  Me and jay have always been super close... he was my best friend all through high school and I lobe him more than anything.  He was super excited to hear I was getting married... especially that I was getting married in the temple.  He emailed me and kyle and told us that he has been telling everyone that his sister just got married in the Las Vegas Temple.  Apparently his mission president was very excited :)  He emailed me a fe weeks before the wedding and told me to not send him a wedding announcement.  That he was so excited and happy for me but he didn't think he would be able to handle it... it would be too much, which completely broke my heart.  I talked to kyle about waiting until Jay got home (May of 2010) to get married.. but Kyle thought that idea was probably not the best one I have ever come up with.  So we went ahead with the original plan.  Every week Jay would email me and ask how the wedding was coming along and remind me how excited he was for us.  Jay knows kyle's twin brother kurt through church and so he was excited that I was marrying kurt's twin.  Well anyways, a few days after the wedding, Jay told me to figure out what we had wanted as a gift but didn't get and let him know... he wanted to send us something.  The only think we really really wanted was a deep fryer... so I told Jay and he said "Shan, don't go get a deep fryer, I got it covered".  I have been waiting for a package for something  I ordered that I really need, and I checked the front door this morning and there was a huge box out there addressed to me... I was so excited.  I had no idea who it was from or what it was, but who doesn't like getting packages.  Me and kyle ripped it open and there was our deep fryer... It is a really really nice one.  It reminded me of how much I miss my little brother and how incredibly proud I am of him.  I sad and cried for a few minutes (cuz that's what I do)  Kyle seriously has two of the best brother in laws in my brothers.  They are amazing men and stinkin' hilarious!  We got some dang good gifts from all of my sibling!  LaPratt's rock apparently!!!!  It was a great surprise, especially considering how stressful our day was yesterday!  I love you Jay!  Kyle loves you too... he doesn't even know you yet... but he does!  13 more months!!

Oops...

So with all the hustle and bustle of the wedding and school... I may have forgotten to register my car :) now this wouldn't be a big deal, so what a few extra bucks and a small repremand fror being a retard... but it's so much more than that. I don't live in Nevada... so todays adventures include my classes in the morning... and driving down to mesquite and getting my car smogged and then registered... and everyone knows how much i literally hate mesquite! It is literally a sh*thole!!! Then back up to st george for our weekly date night... we switched it from friday to wednesday due to my stupidity about the car... i'm lucky kyle is so understanding of my complete absentmindedness!!!

This is new...

Ok, so i'm not sure how into this I really am, but Mel said it is what married women do... and well, now I'm a married woman... so here I am.  It has been a crazy year and it's only April!!!  Kyle and I were married on March 28, 2009 in Las Vegas... and it has been so much fun!  We live in Cedar City and are both attending SUU... I have one more year of school and then we are out of here!!! Woop!!!  I can't even wait!!  Once i finish here, I'll be applying to law schools and am hoping to stay on the west coast... but who knows and me and kyle need an adventure!!!  Let's see... what else... oh... me and kyle have 2 adorable dogs... kirbie and dayzee.  Kirbie still lives in Las Vegas with my parents until Dayzee is old enough that Kirbie won't eat her... but she will be with us soon.  Kyle is so amazing for putting up with me... with all of my animal obsessions, school anxiety and loopy behavior.  Well I think that's it for now... I'll post again when I have more time and more to say :)